(Season 4, Episodes 7-9)
The return of Bettina! I hadn’t realized how much I missed Kathy Bates on Six Feet Under until her character reconnected with Ruth in this run of episodes. What a great character played by an even better actress. I love the relationship between Bettina and Ruth. They are such complete opposites that they really compliment each other perfectly. Aside from that, I’m completely in favor of Ruth coming out of her shell, even if Bettina drags her kicking and screaming every time.
These episodes also saw the end of Joe and Brenda’s relationship and the rekindling of Nate and Brenda as a couple. Will it all go bad again?
“The Dare”
Oh Federico. Why do I find you so boring? I think it has something to do with the Fishers being so compelling. Rico always seems to fade into the background, even when he is getting kicked out of his house with his marriage crumbling around him. Sadly, I just don’t care.
Now, when it comes to the Fishers, I care. I care that Claire finally succumbed to her desire for experimentation and slept with Edie. Given how unsure she was about doing anything with Edie, I have a feeling that she isn’t going to dive into the lesbian lifestyle. It seems to me like she was far more fascinated with the flirtation than she was with the actual act.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that George is a big zero. This episode featured a visit to Sarah’s where Ruth reconnected with Bettina. George made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with the dinner and visiting. Ruth, why did you think it was a good idea to rush into this marriage?
It was great to see Lili Taylor back, even if it was just in some dreams/visions from Nate.
“Coming and Going”
With so much practice playing Buffy’s bratty little sister, Dawn, there’s no surprise that Michelle Trachtenberg excelled in the role of Celeste. I thought it was kind of a riot that she seduced Keith. “I don’t get fucked in the ass,” she said. “That makes one of us,” Keith replied. Classic. Keith wasn’t the only one cheating after he and David (well, mostly David) agreed not to have sex outside the relationship. David and Sarge, from gay paintball, hooked up. I think David really just needed someone else around. It clearly wasn’t about the sex. I’m glad that Keith came back to be with him, even if it meant losing his job (though sleeping with Celeste took care of that too).
I was also glad to see Ruth finally leave George. I don’t know if those two can mend their fences or not, but she certainly deserves better. At his age, will George be able to change?
“Grinding the Corn”
Nate, George, and Rico all living in the house together? That’s a sitcom waiting to happen. If only Arthur were still around….
If Claire had any doubts about whether or not she was gay before this episode, I think all her questions were answered after her encounter with Jimmy. It’s too bad that Edie is taking the whole lesbian experimentation so hard though. Claire seems to have really crappy luck when it comes to love.
It was a little tough watching Brenda nearly fall completely off the wagon as she ended up in a pot den, almost having sex with a bunch of strangers. It was actually nice to see her and Nate reconnect and finally admit that they still have feelings for each other, and I never thought I would say that after the first two seasons. I’m very interested to see where that is going to go.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Jun 30, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
The problem for me with Brenda and Nate is that there is no way you can base a long-lasting relationship simply on a sexual connection. That’s what they tried to do for the duration of the series and it never worked because sexual chemistry can never sustain the hard times. I never got the feeling that Nate & Brenda really liked each other as people and both of them are too fucked up and selfish how mutually self-destructive their relationship actually is.